Here's what many previous apocalyptic-type films tells us about the year ahead.
This article was recently reviewed and is up to date as of March 4, 2021.
It's both terrifying and fascinating to look back at films that "predicted" what we're going through right now. Remember the iPad-like tablets of 2001: A Space Odyssey? Or how about the reality television-obsessed culture of The Truman Show, where Truman's every move was captured by hidden cameras?
These films came out years before but they somehow managed to unravel what the future might hold. While 2020 definitely felt like the apocalypse was here, here's a list of films that predict what doomsday is like: from alien and monster invasions to damages of climate change. Screen Rant wraps up what every movie set in 2021 has to tell us about the year ahead.
John Krasinski's 2018 horror hit A Quiet Place did manage to predict a version of self-isolation. The gripping thriller follows a family of four who must navigate their lives in silence. Why? Blind creatures who wiped out most of the earth's population kill anything that makes a sound! Survivors must try to stay alive as they wander the post-apocalyptic wasteland in complete silence. A Quiet Place Part II, the sequel to A Quiet Place (2018), was supposed to release sometime earlier but got pushed due to COVID-19 related delays.
Starring a stellar cast of Joaquin Phoenix, Sean Penn, and Claire Danes, this apocalyptic sci-fi romance is from Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg. The 2003 film focuses on whether a couple will, on the brink of divorce, find a way to reconnect and remain together amidst a cosmic collapse. The movie is set in 2021 where climate change has resulted in deadly frost storms and where humans run the risk of being replaced by killer clones.
Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star in this bittersweet romantic comedy from Hustlers writer-director Lorene Scafaria. With news that an enormous asteroid will destroy Earth in less than a month two strangers help each other find closure. The two go on one last road trip before the world ends, but they soon fall for one another, a reminder that forming human connections during an apocalypse is the only way to go about it.
Let's take a look at a different genre: anime! Makoto Shinkai's acclaimed anime film, Weathering With You, became Japan's highest-grossing film of 2019. With great reviews, the story revolves around a boy who runs away to Tokyo and becomes friends with a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather. There are climate woes in the film which results in the city drowning because of the weather, but it does end on a hopeful note... maybe the perfect message for a film set in 2021?
A brutal army of men takes all women with whom they come in contact as prisoners the fictional "Western War." This 1988 post-apocalyptic film follows a band of fierce "she-warriors," dubbed The Sisterhood. The maiden warriors kick ass with paranormal powers. It's interesting to note that the film is reminiscent of the wasteland feminism that took place nearly 30 years later in Mad Max: Fury Road.
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